Djokovic retires after starting set, Zverev reaches Australian Open final

After losing the first set, Djokovic went to Zverev and abandoned the match. The hard-fought first set had lasted 80 minutes and obviously put too much strain on Djokovic's thickly bandaged left thigh. The ten-time Australian Open winner had suffered the injury in the quarter-final against Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic will therefore continue to wait for his 25th Grand Slam tournament victory, which would make him the sole record holder - ahead of Australian Margaret Court, with whom he shares the record for Majors won. He celebrated his last Grand Slam titles in 2023 with titles in Melbourne, Paris and New York.

Alexander Zverev, who spoke after the match of the "best set I've played at this tournament", will play his first final in Melbourne on Sunday and his third at a Grand Slam tournament. The Tokyo Olympic champion lost the previous two: against Dominic Thiem at the 2020 US Open and against Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open.

Sinner wants to defend his title

As expected, Zverev's opponent in the final on Sunday is Jannik Sinner. The top-seeded Italian defending champion beat American Ben Shelton 7:6 (7:2), 6:2, 6:2 in just over two and a half hours after initial difficulties.

Zverev against defending champion

Sinner confidently beats Shelton to reach Australian Open final

Shelton served for the set at 6:5 in the first set, but gave it up in the tie-break after missing two set points. After that, Sinner clearly had the upper hand - also because Shelton was experiencing physical problems. A medical timeout after the second set and Shelton's break in the first game of the third set failed to turn the match around.